Encanto Park from above | Drone Zone

Right in the heart of Central Phoenix lies a 222-acre oasis. Since 1934, Encanto Park has really had it all: two golf courses, shady trails, and winding lagoons, even a little amusement park, too. Drone pilot Joe Tillman has more. Hi, my name is Tyree Davis. I'm the recreation supervisor for the downtown division with the City of Phoenix Parks and Recreation Department. So we are here in Encanto Park, the historic Encanto Park here in downtown Phoenix. This is one of our oldest parks, one of our jewels of the community. It's actually over 100, almost 100 years old. 1934. It's been a city park. It was originally named after the landowners who one was the first Arizona's first veterinarian. The other one was a dairy farmer. So they sold the land to the city of Phoenix and then it was developed. The developer had some visions of making it sort of like the Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. So the design of the park with the golf courses and the waterways and the lagoons was all done intentionally by design because they wanted to create this oasis, this desert oasis, this enchanted area, which by terms, encanto means enchanted. So there's a ton of things to do here in Encanto Park. So there is the golf course. So there's a nine hole and 18 holes at the golf course. We have our ADA playground that has accessible and sensory items for everybody. Kids of all ages, all different abilities can enjoy the playground here. There's a variety of sports courts. We have tennis, we have pickleball, we have basketball, volleyball. So there's a little bit of everything for people to do here at the golf course. And then in spring of next year, we're going to be introducing fishing. So kids can learn fishing in Cannon Park. More than a 222 acre park, about seven and a half acres is the waterways. And so it's a bunch of lagoon, so it's not necessarily a lake, it's lagoon's interconnected waterways. And it was sort of designed sort of intentionally. So you have just the natural beauty of waterways. You have the fishing element that people can do here. And then with the golf courses, it becomes like a natural barrier or hazard just to add to the aesthetics and the playability of the golf course. Encanto Park is really a part of Phoenix's history. Ironically, when this park was developed in 1934, there was about 50,000 residents of Phoenix. There's about 50,000 residents in just this neighborhood alone now. So it just really describes the growing aspects of Phoenix and its history. And then this is a desert oasis. You come here to relax. There's a lot of different things to do. It's natural shade. It's just pretty everywhere you look. Every Every, every, uh... Nook and cranny that you turn around and you're going to find some type of beauty element, some type of active element. So it really describes Phoenix on a historical and recreational scale. It really is beautiful out there. Fishing, by the way, is active right now at Encanto Park. And trout stocking starts at the end of the month. To watch more Drone Zone stories and check out the behind-the-scenes adventures, you can download the Fox Local app, scan the QR code on your screen, and tell us about an Arizona spot we should feature on Drone Zone.